The practice of sharing syringes without adequate sterilization between successive users is a major contributor to the transfer of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Hepatitis and other communicable diseases with subsequent severe repercussions for the sufferer and at a high cost to society for supporting and providing medical attention to sufferers.
In response to this problem, syringes have been developed with the aim of preventing syringe re-use.
One solution has been to develop syringes where the needle is permanently retractable into the barrel of the syringe, retraction driven by a compressed spring, as for example described in International Publication WO 01/80930.
Although very effective, retractable syringes are relatively expensive, particularly when required in large quantities for mass immunizations or for distribution to intravenous drug users. This is particularly a problem in third world countries where the incidence of HIV is high, mass immunization programs need to be frequently undertaken and healthcare resources are limited.
Several simpler and less expensive non-retractable syringe alternatives exist, such as syringes having disabling mechanisms that prevent re-use, but generally these syringes require the user to actively disable the syringe. Even health care professionals can at times be remiss and fail to actively disable such syringes after use.
It is therefore an object of the invention to overcome or alleviate at least one of the deficiencies of the prior art, or at least provide a useful alternative.